Find out what happened at the National Officiating Conference 2018

A variety of Chair Umpires, Court Supervisors, Line Umpires and Referees, of varying experience, from all over the country attended a series of workshops, talks and seminars over the course of the two-day conference.

Keynote Speaker Carlos Ramos, ITF Gold Badge Chair Umpire and renowned Referee, discussed his officiating career which includes being the only official to umpire the Men’s singles final at all four Grand Slam tournaments, umpiring a total of ten Grand Slam singles finals, working six Davis Cup and three Fed Cup finals along with chairing the Men’s singles gold medal Olympics match at London 2012 between Andy Murray and Roger Federer. Carlos also gave Officials an insight into his recent experience umpiring this year’s US Open Ladies singles final.

During the conference there were also presentations from the Tennis Integrity Unit, UK Anti-Doping and the LTA Safeguarding team, while other sessions covered topics such as communication with players, officiating for disability tennis, dealing with nerves, voice training, self-evaluation and objective setting.

Sabrina Stocker of My Tennis Events gave a background on her business and explained what she does to improve the competition experience - specifically looking at how parents can get involved and support with on-court officiating.

The entrepeneur, who can currently be seen on on The Apprentice on BBC one, said: "There was an exciting atmosphere over the weekend and meeting others with the same passion was really helpful. I look forward to continuing to explore and share how different aspects of events can impact a child's and parent's psychology of behaviour at events."

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